State of Mind
by RurouniRia
Summary: [SakuragiXRukawa, Shonen Ai] Sakuragi's unusually kind one day...Rukawa thought it was another evil scheme...


  
  
  
Before you read this fanfic…  


  
1. Obviously, I did not create Slam Dunk (although I wish I was the one who did), and it belongs to its respective author, producers and whoever.   
2. This is a Shonen Ai fanfic, or BoyXBoy love. Although it's not really a yaoi lemon, I suggest that if you are the type that gets freaky with this kind of stuff, better go and find the usual fanfics you read.   
3. The pairing here is SakuragiXRukawa (but I'm more or a SendohXRukawa supporter). 

  
  
  


**State of Mind** by Rurouni Ria 

  
Rukawa Kaede stayed after basketball practice. He was surprisingly clumsy during the practice earlier, and he wanted to assure himself that he was still the great untouchable Rukawa Kaede. At the same time, he must be punished for bringing upon himself this present state of unease. 

Earlier that practice, Sakuragi had been strangely super kind to him. The redhead always made sure that Rukawa had the ball by violently but sportingly seizing the ball from the other team, and immediately passing it to Rukawa with a matching "Rukawa!" warning call. After the first time he did this unusual act, making Rukawa score, he gave Rukawa a very strange look of adoration, approval, maybe hope, and anything else Rukawa didn't want to know. This made Rukawa uneasy for the rest of the practice game, made him miss shots from time to time. "Fuck you and your stupid antics Hanamichi Sakuragi!" He felt stupid, angry and somehow scared of what he thought and felt about 'the look'. The feeling 'the look' gave him was so strong that he can't ignore it just like any other feelings unwanted. During the game, every time he misses a shot, Sakuragi just smiles at him-not the irritating stupid grin he always stores for Rukawa, but a genuine, sincere smile. Then he would say, "That's ok Rukawa," in a very earnest tone. Rukawa dribbled the ball violently. _Ok, you got me you stupid fucking asshole. So are we going to play this game of Mr. Nice guy? You're a lunatic from hell…_"Hanamichi Sakuragi!!" He threw the ball towards the wall with all his strength. 

One may wonder why Rukawa was making a big deal out of this. The answer is simple, he thought that he and Sakuragi would finally be friends and end all of these stupid and meaningless competitions. But then due to his untrusting nature, he interpreted the redhead's unusual kind treatment as an evil scheme to distract him. He felt hurt and confused, unsure if this was for real or not. His mind's state of confusion took away his concentration from the game. In the end, he decided that this was all part of a wicked plan, and he was immensely mad at himself for being affected. 

What he didn't know was there was somebody watching… 

"Wow Rukawa, you really don't have to shout my name like that…"  
The other guy almost fell from the surprise, then anger rose and he was reminded of the earlier situation.   
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" he was in a deep shade of pink from embarrassment.   
"Whoa easy, man. It's not like you own the gym or something…"  
Rukawa ignored him by shooting the ball. He almost missed; the ball first went rolling around the ring before scoring, another proof of his distracted mind. _Remember, he's pulling another trick on you, just in a different way…stay cool…_  
"Well, if you're going to ignore me then, how about a little one on one?" Sakuragi suggested without a hint of pride in his voice.   
"Fine." Rukawa threw him the ball, accepting the challenge and allowing his opponent to have the ball first.   
_Well, well, are you belittling my abilities, Rukawa-kun…I'll show you…_  
Hanamichi Sakuragi started dribbling and went to the rim preparing to shoot, when Rukawa skillfully seizes the ball. He went around once, confusing Sakuragi where he would make his incredible shot, and finally decides to shoot the ball. It went in so Sakuragi got the ball. "Nice shot Rukawa!" He smiled again, the genuine smile that made Rukawa uneasy again. 

Sakuragi made some skillful offensive move, alerting Rukawa to his defense. Then Sakuragi attempts to shoot when he was very near the ring, while Rukawa jumps to block. Since Sakuragi was very near the ring, he was almost trapping Rukawa between him and the ring. While both of them were on the air, Sakuragi realized that his shot wouldn't make it, Rukawa's jump was so high and he his hands were entirely blocking the way. Sakuragi decided to abort the shot but it was too late, he was already on the air, and he didn't want to try to shoot the ball for it might hurt Rukawa, so instead, he just let himself fall…on Rukawa. 

Both of them landed on the floor, with Sakuragi on top. Rukawa hit the floor with a loud thud, fortunately, his butt was the first to land and he didn't feel anything seriously painful until Sakuragi fell on him. There was a fairly long pause before Rukawa said, "Get off me." "I don't want to."  
Rukawa was surprised and embarrassed with their weird position and the redhead's firm and sure answer. _Surely, he just wants me to be crushed with his weight…well it takes more than that…_   
"Get off me, or I'll kick you off, son of a bitch"  
Sakuragi lifted his head from its leaning position on Rukawa's chest. He inhaled Rukawa's scent: sweat mixed with perfume. It was all, intoxicating. He looked at Rukawa face to face, just inches away…  
"I-don't-want-to"   
Rukawa tried to push him off but aside from gravity, he was weakened by the situation, as well as Sakuragi's weight and his firm answer.  
"What is your problem fucking asshole?!! Why don't you just leave me alone, if you're thinking I would steal that bitch Haruko from you, well you can tell her that I'm not interested---hmpfff" Sakuragi shut him up with a tight but gentle kiss. "You know what my problem is? My problem is that I love you and you keep on ignoring me like this. If you feel disgusted by it, you can curse me infinitely, just-just don't ignore me…please…" There was another long pause.  
"You are an eternal asshole Hanamichi Sakuragi." Rukawa gathered all of his strength to roll him off. _You can never get me like this, I'm not stupid…_  
He left a staring Sakuragi on the gym. 

While walking home, he thought about everything that happened that day: the look, the emotions, their short match…the kiss… The kiss was very simple, it was obvious that Sakuragi was not learned about kissing, but it was full of strange emotions that Rukawa can't and don't want to identify. He was hurt…he couldn't understand why Sakuragi treats him like this. Surely, tomorrow he would be back to his old irritating self, he might even announce that Rukawa had kissed him, or felt him, or anything that would ruin and insult Rukawa. 

Rukawa didn't feel anything seriously painful until Sakuragi Hanamichi fell for him… 

  
  


* * *

Owari O_o 


End file.
